Provision has been made in the past for illuminating the bicycle rack but the lights previously proposed have been fastened to the rack as an attachment that can easily become loose, dislodged or subject to malfunction and the conductors are not protected. It is also significant that previous lights proposed for use on a bicycle rack interfere with the smooth lines of the rack and the supports for the light form no structural function as in holding the articles mounted on the rack, i.e., the light supports are not structural components of the rack and do nothing to aid in the support of articles being carried on the rack.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved illuminated bicycle rack of strong, lightweight construction in which the light supports are structural elements of the rack and wherein a pair of laterally spaced structural elements each carry a light casing integrally connected to its rearward end. A further object is to provide structural support elements defining the side edges of an article carrying platform each of which serves as a protective shroud for electrical conductors extending forwardly from the lights. A further object is to provide battery support at the front end of the rack preferably extending across the rack from side to side serving as an additional brace or connector fastened between longitudinally extending stringers that form the side rails of the supporting platform of the rack. Still another object is to provide an illuminated bicycle rack with longitudinally extending stringers and one or more U-shaped brackets including parallel depending legs for mounting the rack on a bicycle and a horizontally extending cross member connected between the stringers. The battery support holds the stringer together and also acts as a butress for the articles being carried.